Retirement planning

Now is a crucial time to build and cement the bonds of trust between you, your clients, and your colleagues, says Kimberly Foss.

Your clients may have heard conflicting advice — they must change their IRA beneficiaries, spend down their IRA as soon as possible, dismantle their trust, or immediately convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, Sophia Duffy writes.

The simplest method involves having one traditional IRA and one Roth IRA, making one annual non-deductible contribution to the traditional IRA, and converting it before any gains or interest accrues.

Three provisions in the far-reaching law “make it likely that annuities will become more prevalent in company plans,” one expert says.

Some advisory firms have already started narrowing their lists of funds considered eligible for retirement plans based on Trump’s decision to overhaul ERISA.

"When you ask someone what their goals are for retirement in 10, 20 or 30 years, the truth is most people don’t even know what’s possible in the first place," Michael Kitces says.

After a waiver, required minimum distributions from certain retirement accounts — including traditional IRAs and 401(k)s —return for 2021.

Decisions we make during financial crises alter as retirement nears — and not always for the better.

The regulation permits more exemptions from fiduciary duties, but may itself be replaced by the incoming Biden administration.